It's been 20 years since the Ikeda small incident, and the classmates of the victims are now

It has been 20 years since the murder of eight children at Ikeda Elementary School attached to Osaka University of Education in Ikeda City, Osaka.

A memorial gathering will be held at the school, attended by the bereaved families.

At Ikeda Elementary School attached to Osaka University of Education, 20 years ago, on June 8, 2001, a man with a knife invaded and killed eight first and second grade children, killing 13 children and two teachers. I did.

On the 8th, 20 years after the incident, a memorial gathering will be held at the school, and the bereaved families will attend.

The scale will be smaller than usual due to the influence of the new corona.

At Ikeda Elementary School, we have set up a class called "Safety Department" to learn about crime prevention and disaster prevention based on the lessons learned from the incident, and have been focusing on education to protect the lives of children.

In addition, faculty and staff regularly conduct response training for suspicious persons, and an emergency response manual is available on our website.

Twenty years later, the principal was the only teacher who experienced the incident.

The school wants to share lessons widely so that cases involving children are not repeated.

Gamba Osaka employee who lost his classmate Mr. Watanabe

Reina Watanabe (27), who lost her childhood friend's classmate in the second grade at that time, is now working at the management company of soccer J1 and Gamba Osaka.

It was after the second hour of class that a man with a knife entered Watanabe's classroom.

Watanabe desperately escaped to the corridor while hitting a man.

I couldn't understand what happened at the time, but it's still clear that the teacher was throwing a chair at the man and that the suit of the teacher with the injured child was bloody. I say I remember.

Shortly after the incident, I saw pictures of my classmates in newspapers and on TV, asked my mother why, and learned that eight people, including my childhood friend Ayano Moriwaki (7 at the time), had died.

Ayano-chan, who was cheerful and lively, encouraged Watanabe-san, who was a crybaby.

The same goes for kindergarten, and it was the relationship with soccer that encouraged Mr. Watanabe, who was busy with the death of his childhood friend who was spending time with him during school and breaks in elementary school.

Mr. Watanabe, who gradually regained his energy by interacting with the players who visited the school as a consolation and handing a bouquet at the game, said that he wanted to be able to cheer himself up someday.

Mr. Watanabe is currently planning an exchange event between players and supporters at the operating company of Gamba Osaka.

I will never forget the incident and want to live as strong as my childhood friends and classmates who died.

Watanabe says, "I want to tell Ayano-chan,'I'm not crying now. I'm stronger.' I want to live up to my classmates so as not to be ashamed of Ayano-chan and my classmates who were playing with me. I want to use my experience to cheer up people who have similar feelings and sad feelings. "

At that time, 1st grade children's cafeteria management Mr. Ito

Masataka Ito (27), a first-year student at Ikeda Elementary School, is currently involved in the operation of a children's cafeteria locally.

At the time of the incident, when I was in the gymnasium for a physical education class, the teacher instructed me to escape immediately, and I ran to the playground all at once with my classmates.

On the way to escape, he saw a child lying down and a teacher whose shirt was dyed red.

After the incident, anxiety continued, and he sometimes responded strongly to the sounds of ambulance sirens and helicopters.

In addition, I was afraid that someone would come in, so it took me a long time to get back to my daily routine, such as repeatedly checking if the door was locked.

When I became a college student, I realized that it was the adults around me, such as my parents and the athletes who visited the school, who supported me. As I got older, I realized that the adults were cheering me up and supporting me. "

For this reason, when I became a college student, I started a local children's cafeteria with my mother, Mutsumi, who wanted to support the children.

Currently, I am involved while working as an office worker, and since it will be the basis for children who are having a hard time at home or school, I will never get angry at the cafeteria and will treat them kindly as "brother".

For the past year and a half, it has been difficult for everyone to eat in the cafeteria due to the influence of the new coronavirus, and Mutsumi makes lunch boxes and provides meals about twice a month.

Twenty years have passed since the incident, and Mr. Ito said, "It can be difficult, but I'm glad I started seeing the smiles and growth of the children. If there were no incidents, my classmates who died would be just like me. I should have had various experiences, so I think I have to carry their thoughts on my back and live my life in the future. "

A girl of a classmate is damaged Mr. Nakahara, a trainee

Kosuke Nakahara (28), a second-year student at Ikeda Elementary School at the time of the incident, is currently working as a trainee at Osaka City University Hospital.

The incident happened shortly after the Japanese language class was over, just before the chime sounded.

It is said that the moment the door on the front side of the classroom opened and a man holding a knife was seen, a girl child of her classmate was stabbed.

I was urged by the teacher to evacuate to the playground, but I was worried about my classmates and returned to the classroom. I ran away to the playground when I was told, "Run away." I couldn't do anything at that time. "

Having experience at that time, I decided to become a doctor in the second year of high school, so "I had a child like that girl at the time of that incident about why I became a doctor and why I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to help and be able to help when I appeared in front of me, "he said.

Since last year, I have been working as a trainee at a university hospital with the aim of becoming a pediatrician, and in March I was treated in the emergency ward for critically ill patients with the new coronavirus.

It is said that he was shocked by the fact that relatively young people died one after another despite desperate treatment, and made him think about life again.

Twenty years after the incident, Mr. Nakahara said, "At that time, if I had a different seat, it wouldn't be strange if I died, and every time I remembered the incident, I wondered what the importance of life was. As a life that saved my life, I want to use it for the next life as a saved life, and I want to make use of it to help someone, "he said.